Peacemaker fgc-3 Page 11

  For a man in a drunken stupor, the piratereacted quickly. He hurled his bottle at Kali before she could tugthe gun out of her overalls. She ducked, and it skimmed past herhead and crashed against a wall of vertical pipes. Cheap alcoholand shards of glass flew. The man lunged to his feet, reaching fora gun of his own, but Kali kicked him in the knee to buy herself asecond. She jumped back into the corridor, finally yanking hersix-shooter free.

  Kali aimed it at his chest. “Drop yourgun.”

  Her kick had thrown theman off balance, and he slipped in the spilled alcohol. In theconfining closet, he couldn’t fall far, but his head smacked thewall and he dropped his gun. It hit the ground and went off. Kaliflung herself to the floor. From the clang, clang, thunk that followed,she guessed the bullet never left the closet. A hiss of gas roseover the clamor coming from the deck above.

  Kali winced. “On second thought, mysuggestion to drop the gun might have been flawed.”

  After hopping to her feet, she aimed herrevolver at the pirate again, but he hadn’t moved since his headstruck the wall. She grabbed the fallen gun and patted him down forother weapons, but didn’t find anything else. She eyed hiscorpulent form with a grimace. As tiny as the closet was, she’dhave to move him out in order to step inside herself.

  Kali grabbed his arm. Farther back in thecorridor, Keitlyudee was watching with her own revolver pointedloosely in the man’s direction. Kali thought about asking for help,but the girl barely seemed to have the wherewithal left to hold thegun. Kali dragged the two hundred pounds of dead weight through thedoorway on her own, her legs and back trembling from the effort.Grunting and straining, she finally managed to tug the pirate outof the closet. Smoke lingered in the corridor, and she had to fightnot to break into a coughing fit.

  A door creaked open behind her. Damn, shehad forgotten about that pirate.

  He had found shoes, and he wore his weaponsbelt around his waist now instead of between his teeth. He hadalready extracted a six-shooter from it, and he pointed it at Kalieven as she pointed hers at him.

  “Who told you that youcould come out?” she growled, putting all the steel she couldmuster into her voice, knowing that, without the flame gun, she didnot have as fearsome a weapon with which to cow him.

  “Put down your guns,girls,” the pirate said.

  Keitlyudee dropped her weapon and pressedher back against the wall, though she was farther down the corridorand not the focus of the pirate’s attention.

  Kali flicked her gaze toward the stairwelland lifted a hand, as if Cedar had appeared and she was beckoninghim for help. For a split second, the pirate’s eyes shifted. Kalifired.

  Anticipating a return shot, she droppeddown, almost landing on the unconscious man. The return fire cameamidst curses, the bullet zipping over her head so close it stirredher hair. It clanged against metal behind Kali.

  Her bullet had clipped the pirate’s ear, andblood streamed down the side of his head. It had to hurt, but hewas lowering his gun to fire again. Still on her back, Kali shotfirst, this time leaving a smoking hole in his boot. The man howledand dropped his gun. Kali kicked it down the corridor and trainedher weapon on the pirate again.

  “I said, who told you to come out?”Yes, she was flat on her back, but she would shoot him again, in amore vital spot, if he didn’t back off.

  Hopping on one foot, the man gave her a wildglare. Had he not expected a woman would actually shoot him? Aftera long, considering moment, he stumbled back into his cabin.

  Kali yanked his door shut and scrambled toher feet.

  “Stand here and watch thisone,” she told Keitlyudee, then stepped over the unconscious pirateand returned to the mechanical room. “Shoot him if he getsup.”

  “You’re not afraid of themat all, are you?” Keitlyudee asked.

  Kali’s heart, still pounding after havingthat gun pointed at her face, belied that notion, but all she saidwas, “I’m sure I would be if I’d had your night.”

  She focused on the levers, on/off wheels,gauges, and pipes running from floor to ceiling in the cubby andscowled. Not only were there two holes in one of the pipes, but shecouldn’t identify which gas was flowing out from them. The labelplaques were in…“Persian?” she guessed. Her father had had bookswritten in European languages, but he had never taught her how toread any of them, and everything inside the machine room wasgibberish to her. “Why couldn’t these oafs steal an American orBritish airship?”

  She leaned close to one of the leaks andsniffed, though she promptly rolled her eyes at herself when shedidn’t smell anything. Both oxygen and hydrogen were colorless andodorless, so what had she expected?

  “The holes are good,aren’t they?” Keitlyudee had edged closer. “We wanted to sabotagethings, didn’t we?”

  “We want to bring down theship. If the air supply is leaking, that’s not going to happen. Weneed to make sure they run low on hydrogen up there, but I’m notsure which one is which. How’s your Persian?”

  The girl gave Kali a blank look.

  “That’s about what Iexpected.” Kali picked up the alcohol bottle. Only the neck hadbroken, and the body appeared to be intact. “Will you get me thematches in Sparwood’s chest?”

  Keitlyudee paled, probably not wanting toreturn to that foul room, but she whispered, “Very well,” andheaded down the corridor.

  Kali drained the remaining liquid from thebottle. Gunfire sounded somewhere overhead. She wondered if anyonein navigation had noticed the pressure drop on the gas boardyet.

  “Here.” Keitlyudee handedher a couple of long wooden matches with bulbous phosphorousheads.

  Kali lifted her hand, but paused. “Betternot do it in here.” Her dead father would cringe with embarrassmentif she blew herself up by lighting a match in a closet full ofhydrogen. “Wait for me by the stairs. I’ll have you light one overthere.”

  “All right…”

  Kali decided not to explain the dangers ofher little experiment. They would only worry the girl. She turnedthe alcohol bottle sideways and pressed the jagged opening as closeto one of the holes as she could. Gas whistled past, cooling herfingers, and she hoped enough of it got into the bottle for herexperiment.

  When she judged the bottle to be as full asit would get, Kali plopped her hand over it as tightly as shecould, given the jagged glass lip. “Light the match.”

  She jogged up the corridor and placed thebottle on a step near the exit, hoping enough cool air was swirlingdown from above that they didn’t need to worry about hydrogen inthe corridor. Keitlyudee lit the match. Kali took it and, wishingfor goggles, slid the flame over the bottle opening at the sametime as she removed her hand.

  The flame was sucked into the bottle with apop.

  “That’s it,” Kali said andran back to the closet, tearing tin snips out of her pocket as shewent. As soon as she reached the leaking pipe, she went to workbroadening the holes so the gas would flow out morequickly.

  “Uh?” Keitlyudee said fromthe corridor. “What did we just prove?”

  “This is the hydrogenline,” Kali said. “That pop we heard was the sound of the gascombusting really fast and the pressure equalizing inside andoutside of the container.”

  “Oh,” Keitlyudee said, notsounding any more enlightened than before.

  Kali worked on the pipe until she’d nearlytorn it in half. “There,” she murmured. “That ought to bring thisboat down.”

  A shot fired in the corridor.

  “Are they coming?” Kalistuffed her tin snips into a pocket and stepped out.

  The smell of black smoke tinged the air, andKeitlyudee stood, looking at her gun. “No. I mean, I thoughtsomeone ran past the top of the stairs, and I fired. They weren’tcoming down though. I guess.”

  Kali rubbed her face. The girl was as likelyto shoot an ally in the back as an enemy. “Let’s go up and see ifthis hole is causing a problem for the navigator yet.”

  Before they reached the stairs, the scent ofsmoke came to Kali’s nose. At first, she thought it might beling
ering from her experiment or the gunshot, but it was waftingdown from the deck above. She hoped Cedar wasn’t running around,lighting things on fire up there. She still had hopes for claimingthe ship.

  Kali eased up the steps, her revolver at theready, and poked her head out. Darkness blanketed the stern of theship, but toward the bow firelight pushed back the night andhighlighted bodies-at least a dozen-littering the deck. The flamesdanced around an enclosed cabin where Kali could just make out thewheel of the ship and a bank of levers through windows reflectingthe fire. Navigation. If any pirates were still inside, shecouldn’t tell.

  Her eye followed those flames upward, andshe swallowed. If the fire grew a few more feet, it would bebathing the bottom of the balloon. If it burned through the outershell and ignited the hydrogen, the fiddling she’d done with thepipe wouldn’t matter an iota.

  “Cedar,” Kali groaned.“What have you been doing up-”

  An impact jolted the ship, hurling Kalibackward, amidst cracking wood and groaning metal. She tried tocatch herself on the stairs, but her heel slipped off, and shetumbled to the bottom, landing in a painful heap. Shudders ranthrough the vessel. They must have hit something. Were they intown? Or on a mountaintop somewhere?

  The ship groaned and scraped, pulling awayfrom whatever it had struck.

  “Are you all right?”Keitlyudee asked.

  Kali waved the question away and scrambledto her feet. “I’m fine, but I need to find Cedar. I want you to getoff as soon as possible. If we can find his rope and grapplinghook, maybe-”

  Footsteps pounded toward the entrance abovethem. The navigators finally coming down to check on what hadcaused the hydrogen to vent?

  Kali dropped to one knee and braced herwrist for a steady shot at whoever burst into sight at the top ofthe stairs.

  “Kali!” Cedar shouted asecond before he appeared. “I need you to-oh, there youare.”

  Kali lowered the gun and ran up to meet him.Another impact rocked the ship, and a great cracking and smashingof wood shattered the night. This time the ship jerked to a halt,sending Kali flying forward instead of back. Cedar caught her andpulled her against his chest. His legs were spread, braced againstthe steps and the wall.

  “We have to get off,” hesaid.

  “Yes, but if we leave, wecan’t take over the ship. The pirates will get it, and thisfighting will have been for nothing.” Well, not nothing-they’drescued Keitlyudee-but Kali wanted the ship, damn it.

  “We just crashed into asmokestack, and we’re on the roof of the mill, Kali,” Cedar saidslowly, like someone trying to get something through the muddledthoughts of a drunk.

  “Oh.” Kali supposed thatanswered her question about whether they were in town or thewilderness.

  “There aren’t any piratesleft either,” Cedar went on. “The only thing to worry about is thatfire spreading to the entire town.” He pointed at theflames.

  Dried blood streaked his arm. In fact, hiswhole chest was spattered with it, though he did not appearinjured. Kali wondered if the pirates were gone because theyabandoned the ship or if he had decimated them all. She decided notto ask.

  Shouts drifted up from the town below, criesof, “Fire!” and, “Get the hoses!”

  “Tarnation,” Kali said, asthe new threat permeated her brain. She’d wanted to bring the shipdown, not light the city on fire. She pushed away from Cedar.“Maybe we can get the ship off the mill and dump it in the riverwhere the fire can’t spread.”

  Cedar gave her a suspicious squint beforeletting her go. He probably thought she was still hoping to salvagethe ship, and maybe she was, but she couldn’t let it turn Dawsoninto an inferno, not when she’d been responsible for sabotaging thehydrogen.

  Keitlyudee was lingering on the stairsbehind her. Kali grabbed her arm and guided her onto the deck.

  “Is there a way for her toget off?” Kali asked.

  “My rope should still betied behind that capstan over there.” Cedar pointed toward arailing on the aft side of the ship.

  “Can you climb down?” Kaliasked, eyeing the woman’s bruises.

  Keitlyudee nodded vigorously. She’d probablydo anything to get off the ship and away from her night ofhell.

  “Go, then.” Kali wavedtoward the railing, then told Cedar, “I’m going to navigation.Cover me.”

  Without waiting for approval-or dissent-Kalijogged across the flame-lit deck toward the cabin. Heat beatagainst her face, and wood snapped so loudly it hurt her ears. Ashower of sparks flew upward, dancing toward the bottom of theballoon.

  “Kali…” Cedar had caughtup to her, and he grabbed her arm. “It’s too dangerous to go inthere. You need to-” He broke off with a hiss.

  Kali glanced over her shoulder and followedCedar’s gaze. At the far end of the ship, a dark figure wasslipping over the railing.

  “Look out!” Cedar lunged,throwing an arm around Kali’s waist and bearing her down withhim.

  A gunshot fired, and a bullet skipped offthe deck inches from Cedar’s head.

  “Who-” Kalistarted.

  “Lockhart.” Cedar jumpedto his feet again, hauling Kali with him, and he raced around tothe front of the navigation cabin.

  It took them out of the detective’s line offire, but, given the flames crackling and roaring a foot away, Kalidid not know that they were any safer there.

  “Do what you have to do inthere.” Cedar leaned around a corner and fired a shot. “I’ll keephim busy.”

  Kali hesitated, remembering his words fromthe restaurant. He didn’t want to kill Lockhart, so he’d beshooting only to maim. Lockhart, on the other hand, wanted Cedarmore than anything else in the world just then.

  “I’ll be fine here on myown.” Kali tried to shove Cedar toward the railing. “He won’t shootme. You should get out of here before-”

  Cedar darted away from her and fired twiceinto the night. With the navigation cabin blocking her view, Kalicouldn’t see Lockhart, but she imagined him ducking behind somecover. Cedar waved Kali toward the open door, even as he ran andslid behind a capstan near the railing. Fire danced on ropes overhis head.

  Kali swallowed. She had best do thisquickly, for both of their sakes.

  The windows allowed her to see inside thecabin. Though flames roared on the outside, they did not seem tohave damaged the interior irrevocably yet. Kali tugged her kerchiefover her mouth and nose again and edged closer to the door. Certainthe metal lever would be hotter than Hades, she pulled her sleeveover her hand.

  Heat railed at her, and the wind shifted,driving smoke into her eyes. The men exchanged another round offire, and Kali forced herself to hurry. She grabbed the lever,twisting it and yanking it open. The sleeve did nothing forprotection, and heat scorched her palm, as if she had grabbed aniron from the forge. The hatch swung open. She shook her hand andmade a point not to look at the welts that had to be risingthere.

  Staying low, Kali dartedinto the cabin. With windows on all sides, she knew she’d be atarget in there. Though she didn’t think Lockhart would aim at her, shecouldn’t be sure. He might decide hurting her would distract Cedar,providing the opportunity the agent needed to take his prey down.Or he might think she was trying to damage the city instead ofsaving it.

  Kali dashed sweat out of her eyes as sheconsidered the large wooden wheel and the control panel sprawlingacross the front of the cabin. Waves of heat battered her from allsides, and she knew she couldn’t stay long. Even with the kerchiefover her mouth, hot fumes scorched her nostrils, seeming to burnall the way to her lungs. She’d never been inside a volcano, butshe imagined it would feel like this.

  Though she didn’t expect it to have anyresult, Kali grabbed the wheel and spun it as far to one side as itwould go. The ship’s engines were still working-vibrations thrummedbeneath her feet-but they could do nothing, not with the vesselgrounded atop the mill. Indeed, Kali could see the large smokestackpressed against the bow. For all she knew, the fans that propelledthe ship were busted, smashed into pieces when the craft crashedonto the mill r
oof. Only achieving lift would help them.

  More screams of, “Fire, fire!” came from thecity below, and Kali had a feeling the flames were alreadyspreading.

  She searched the bank of levers, hunting forsomething that might help. As far as she knew, the balloon wasn’tyet compromised, so there had to be hydrogen remaining up there.What if she now vented some of the air? That would partiallydeflate the balloon, but it’d also change the hydrogen-to-airratio. If the ship wasn’t too heavy, maybe there’d be enough of thelighter gas left to lift the hull a few feet. That ought to be allthey needed to limp through town and reach the river.

  Unlike with the controls in the machine roombelow, these had tape pasted below them with English translationsscrawled across the surface. There was hydrogen with its leveralready thrust to maximum. Someone had tried to get them back intothe air, but there were no reserves to call upon. Kali could havesmacked herself on the forehead for her shortsighted sabotage.Bringing the ship down had been her goal, of course, but that hadbeen before she’d known about the fire. She’d envisioned a softlanding in the middle of the Main Street mud. If they caught thecity on fire…it’d be her fault.

  The smoke invading her throat spurred aseries of coughs, and Kali dropped low for a moment, gatheringherself. Black dots danced at the edges of her vision. The heat wasmaking her dizzy.

  A bullet shattered one of the rear windows.It cut straight through and slammed into a charred support beam inthe corner. Broken glass pelted Kali. Already on her knees, sheburied her head and raised her arms to protect her neck. Shardstinkled to the deck all around, the soft noises oddly audible abovethe snapping wood and roaring fire. More than one piece of glassfound bare skin, and Kali winced. Warm blood trickled down herjawline.

  “So much for Lockhart notshooting at me,” she muttered, her voice hoarse.

  Talking only brought on another round ofcoughing. More noxious fumes invaded her lungs.

  Kali squinted up at the control panel,renewing her search. There was a lever for adding air, butwhere-ah, there it was. Two wheels for emergency venting purposes,both fortunately labeled. Kali fought against the heat and her owndizziness to rise enough to grab the closest wheel. She had tosimultaneously push and twist to vent the air.